2020.03.26 Cheng Lai-king, Central and Western District Council Chairman. arrested for “seditious intention”

The Chairman of the Central and Western District Council and a member of the Democratic Party, Ms. Cheng Lai-king, was arrested by the Police in the early hours of this morning on suspicion of committing an act with seditious intent under Cap. 200 of the Crimes Ordinance.

It was learnt that someone had earlier shared a post of a police officer’s details on the social networking site Facebook, which involved personal information such as the officer’s photo, name, officer’s UI number (unique identification number) and the police district he was stationed in. Someone has since removed the post in question. At about 1am today, officers from the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau (CSTCB) visited Cheng’s residence in Lai Yiu Estate, Kwai Chung, and arrested her and brought her back to the police station after staying for about an hour.

Ted Hui arrived at Kwai Chung Police Station at 2:00 a.m. to understand the incident. He quoted the lawyer involved, saying that police had arrested Cheng for “inciting rumours” and were not expected to give a statement until this morning, during which time no one other than the lawyer involved could be contacted.

Ted Hui said that the police’s arrest was related to the contents of a social media post made by Cheng Lai-king earlier, and the ordinance, which is usually less frequently cited, was considered to be “guilty by speech” against Cheng’s status as a District Council chairman and political stance. He also criticised the police for announcing personal vendettas and indiscriminate arrests and will follow up the matter with the legal team. Ted Hui expressed his extreme anger at the police arrest.

Mr Fergus Leung Fong-wai, a member of the Central and Western District Council, who also felt extremely angry, also criticised the police for publishing personal grudges and casually arresting people. He opined that at the C&WDC meeting, Cheng Lai-king was only doing her best to maintain order, but the process might make the Police representatives unhappy. He made it clear that their group of District Councillors would not be alarmed, that District Councillors would still ask offending police representatives to leave the meeting in the future if they did not comply with standing orders.

The deputy chairman of the Kwai Tsing District Council said he had met with Cheng Lai-king yesterday afternoon and attended a press conference with the Medical Association to brief the public on epidemic prevention. Describing Hong Kong as facing a great danger, he considered that the police’s arrest of Cheng was an abuse of power and a petty gesture that undermined the public’s unity in fighting the epidemic.